English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
14ymedio, Havana, December 1, 2020 — The areas around several Havana stores have been under heavy guard by military and special forces troops since Monday when windows in one of the stores were smashed. Purchases at these stores, known locally as MLCs (the Spanish initials for “Freely Convertible Currency”), can only be made with foreign currency, … Continue reading “Soldiers Deployed to Guard Hard Currency Stores”
14ymedio, Luis Daniel Fernández Monzón, Havana, 5 December 2020 — Several graffiti appearing on the walls in the small city of Cruces, in Cienfuegos province, surprised the town’s inhabitants on Thursday. “Down with the dictatorship,” “We want the dollar stores closed,” and “Long Live Free Cuba, down with Dias [sic… it should be ‘Diaz’] Canel,” … Continue reading “Slogans Against Cuban ‘Dollar Stores’ Painted on Walls in Cienfuegos”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 2 December 2020 — The independent artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara was detained this Wednesday when he left the house of the journalist Mónica Baró and while speaking by phone with 14ymedio. A police patrol took him to his mother’s house, where a State Security agent forbade him to go out and “told … Continue reading “Otero Alcantara Detained Again in Havana While Giving an Interview to ’14ymedio’”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 30 November 2020 — Three of the five agreements reached on November 27 between independent artists and cultural authorities — beginning with the release of the young rapper Denis Solís, sentenced to eight months in jail for alleged contempt — did not last 24 hours, Tania Bruguera denounced in a press conference called … Continue reading “Cuban Authorities Broke the Agreements with Artists, Denounces Tania Bruguera”
14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, 28 November 2020 – Sometimes in the dark, or with only the beams of mobile phones lighting their faces, hundreds of artists have planted themselves in front of the Ministry of Culture in Havana, until the early morning hours this Saturday. The peaceful protest marks a necessary precedent with unpredictable consequences … Continue reading “And the Spark Ignited…”
14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 26 November 2020 — One week after the start of the hunger strike at the headquarters of the San Isidro Movement to demand freedom for Denis Solís, sentenced to eight months in a summary trial for an alleged crime of contempt, signs of solidarity continue to arrive via the activists of … Continue reading “Carlos Varela: “Cutting the Wings of Freedom of Expression Cannot Continue””
14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 23 November 2020 — When Luz Escobar was put in the police car after being detained in Havana’s Central Park, she heard the voices of an angry group of people chanting “This street is Fidel’s.” That same refrain encouraged the mob in November 2009, when her father was beaten by a crowd … Continue reading “Luz in the Dungeon”
14ymedio, Yoani Sanchez, Generation Y, Havana, 11 March 2020 — Seventeen years ago, while the world was focused on watching the invasion of Iraq, the Cuban regime took advantage of the distraction to strike the repressive coup that came to be called the Black Spring. This March, as the international media dedicates its headlines to the … Continue reading “Are We Facing A New Black Spring In Cuba?”
14ymedio, Havana, 3 December 2018 — At least three activists were arrested on Monday outside Cuba’s Ministry of Culture when they tried to protest against the enactment of Decree 349, which places strict limits on artists and the diffusion of art. Tania Bruguera, Michel Matos and Amaury Pacheco have been arrested, so far, although the figure could … Continue reading “Several Cuban Activists Arrested Protesting Ministry of Culture Decree 349”
